AS MANY of you remember, when the Labour Government was elected in 1997, there was a pledge for a so-called "bonfire" of the quangos which had ruled Wales for 20 years.

AS MANY of you remember, when the Labour Government was elected in 1997, there was a pledge for a so-called "bonfire" of the quangos which had ruled Wales for 20 years.

Indeed, the proposed abolition of these organisations was one of the main reasons given for the creation of the Assembly.

As a result, functions such as economic development would be in the hands of democratically-elected politicians rather than the unelected "great and good" of Wales.

Given this, those of you who are political anoraks would not have been surprised at the recent rumblings of discontent within various political parties about the exact role of quangos or, as they are now known, Assembly Sponsored Public Bodies (ASPBs).

Despite the earlier election promises, these have grown dramatically in number and size during the last five years and continue to include economic development organisations such as the WDA, Wales Tourist Board and Elwa.

The problems within the latter body have led many to question whether such organisations, which sit uneasily between the public and private sector, should be brought under direct Assembly control.

One of the better analyses of this issue has been written by AM Carwyn Jones in his excellent IWA pamphlet on the "Future of Welsh Labour".

In this publication, Carwyn argues that as ASPBs rely on the Assembly for their existence and their finance, there may now be little need for such bodies to have a separate existence from the Assembly.

Indeed, he suggests that "much of their work could be done by Assembly civil servants, making it more accountable and removing an unnecessary tier of decision-making" and "that they should be brought properly under the wing of the elected government elected by the people of Wales to take decisions".

This stance should strike a chord with all social democrats within Wales who supported the creation of the Assembly because of a desire to abolish the power of the "Taffia" which ruled our country undemocratically for years.

However, vociferous critics of the Assembly, such as Llew Smith (the MP for Blaenau Gwent), argue that ASPBs are now even more powerful and have even greater influence on the politics of Wales than when they were under fire several years ago.

Retaining the current status quo certainly has its attractions.

For example, the presence of non-executive directors has been a positive factor in the management of ASPBs.

The board of the WDA, consisting of leading Welsh industrialists and entrepreneurs such as Roger Jones, Drew Nelson, Simon Gibson, Tyrone O'Sullivan and Margaret Llewellyn, has brought a wealth of expertise and experience that would be hard to find on any listed company within the City.

Given this, one key question to consider in an examination of the role of quangos, is whether the replacement of this board by senior civil servants with little experience of business, would really help Wales develop its economy further?

With politicians from all parties now questioning the "arm's length" position of ASPBs in relation to the Assembly, the time has now come to seriously examine the future role of these semi-public organisations.

If we are to have that debate, we must also consider other options, such as whether we need to have such bodies at all or whether their functions should be run by private organisations, as is the case in other countries.

Certainly, the recent debate has lit the touch paper, but it will be interesting to see whether the bonfire of the quangos will finally be set ablaze.